Improvement in leather-buffing rolls



ATENT FFIUE.

WALLAOE PLACE, OF OAMBRIDGEPORT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO STEPHEN A. FERRIN, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN LEATHER-BUFFING ROLLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2 I 3,247., dated March 11, 1879 application filcd January 13, 187 9.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, WALLACE PLAOE,Of the town of Oambridgeport, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Leather-Buffing Rolls, of which the following is a specification This invention is an improvement in machines for buffin g the soles of boots and shoes, and relates to the buffin g-roll-that is to say, that portion of the machine which consists of a horizontal cylinder whose periphery is covered with an abrasive material for finishing the surface of a'sole.

Heretofore the covering of these rolls has universally been composed of sand paper, which is wound about them, and secured by suitable means. The objection able feature of the sand paper covering is that it rapidly wears out, and must be often renewed, while its surface is never continuously in the same condition. When new it tends to scratch the surface of the leather, and when worn it is ineffective, and as its surface begins to get smooth the friction between it and the leather tends to burn or discolor the surface of the latter.

My improvement,- which is designed to obviate these objectionable results in the use of sand-paper, consists in the employment of a covering for the roll, consisting of a tube or cylinder of thin steel, whose outer surface is toothed, fluted, or otherwise roughened to ex ert the desired effect upon the leather.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure l, a sectional eieva: tion, Fig. 2 a plain elevation, and Fig. 3 a cross-section, of the buffin g roll as provided with my improvement.

In these drawings, A represents the body of the roll, which in practice is about thirty inches long between its journals and abouttwo and one-half inches in diameter. The abrasive covering of the roll is shown at a a as applied at two points and of different grades or coarseness, as the practice has been to apply the covering in this manner, in order that the desired finish may be imparted to the leather by a preparatory action, by the first on coarser portion of the covering, and completed upon the finer.

1n carrying out my invention I discard the sand-paper heretofore used, and in its place I employ a tube or cylinder, 1) or I), composed of sheet-steel, whose outer surface is toothed or roughened in such manner as to act in the desired manner upon the leather.

My present plan is to cutthe surface of the covering into the teeth resembling the surface of single cut or float files, and this will un doubtedly be found the most desirable surface, as it effects its work rapidly and perfectly.

As shown in the present instance, the covering b b is made from a sheet of steel, first cut with the teeth, as stated, then formed into a cylindrical tube, and is lapped and riveted or otherwise secured together, and then properl y hardened.

The tube thus prepared is placed upon the roll A with a tube, 0, of india-rubber or other elastic material, interposed between it and the surface of the roll, to provide a yielding cushion or backing to prevent abrupt or unyielding pressure between the roll and the leather held against it.

I do not confine myself to the particular manner herein stated of forming or roughening the 'covering 1) b, or applying it to the body of the roll, as these may be varied with the exercise of little experience on the part of the mechanic. I consider my invention to consist in producing a buffing-roll with a coverin g of steel having its surface properly roughened to exert the proper abrasive action upon leather.

The advantages of my improvement are several and marked: First, the action of the steel covering is more beneficial than sand-paper, for the reason that it does not scratch, but makes a smooth out; second, it is very dura ble, and requires renewal only at long intervals of time; third, its surface remains for a long time in the same condition; therefore,the soles of boots and shoes buffed by it will pre sent a uniform finish, and for the same reason the leather is not burned or discolored, as would be the case were the covering to wear smooth; fourth, the labor, loss of time, and 2. In buffing-olls provided with a roughstoppage of the machine consequent upon ened steel covering or surface, the intermedithe frequent renewal of the sand-paper eovate elastic cushion, substantially as stated. ering is avoided in my case.

1 claim- WALLACE PLACE. 1. A buffing-roll whose body is provided with a removable covering of thin steel rough- Witnesses:

ened to exert the desired abrasive action upon H. E. LODGE,

the surface of the leather, substantially as set GEO. L. HALL.

forth. 

